The Werewolf and the Lamb
by Koinaka
Summary: A different spin on New Moon/Eclipse. What if something different happened the day Bella staked out Jacob's house?
1. Chapter 1

Continued from pg. 262 New Moon

_A movement flashed in my peripheral vision – I turned and spotted Billy looking at me through the front window with a confused expression. I waved once and smiled a tight smile, but stayed where I was. _

_ His eyes narrowed; he let the curtain fall across the glass. _

_ I was prepared to stay as long as it took, but I wished I had something to do. I dug up a pen out of the bottom of my backpack, and an old test. I started to doodle on the back of the scrap. _

_ I'd only had time to scrawl one row of diamonds when…_

I felt the sensation of someone watching me. I gasped and jumped. It was Jacob. He was staring at me through the window with the strangest expression on his face. It was so intense, he'd never looked at me that way before – no one had ever looked at me that way before. In that one minute, the hole that had been trying so desperately to split me apart closed up tight, and I felt whole for the first time in months. The blush crept up my cheeks, and I nearly stopped breathing. A minute or two went by and he still had that same expression on his face. I rolled the window down.

"Jake? Are you alright" He looked so different, but he was still Jake, my Jake, still sort of beautiful. He'd gotten taller – if that were even possible! – and all of his beautiful hair was gone. It was cropped short like the four other russet-skinned boys who were waiting with baited breath behind him. I made a movement to open my car door when two of the boys surrounded Jacob. It was Embry and Sam Uley. 

Sam Uley. What had he done to Jacob! I opened the car door and got out. The three boys towered over me. I looked up at Jacob, searching his face for any clues of brainwashing. If Sam Uley was running some sort of cult, I would make sure Jacob got out. Even If I had to drag him all the way to Forks alone! 

"Jake? Are you okay?" I asked again, a hint of hysteria to my voice. "Bella," he breathed. He cupped my face in one of his large hands. His dark-eyes bore into mine, and I found myself lost in them. We stood there staring at one another, neither of us speaking until Embry snickered beside him and broke the spell.

"Man, the boys are so going to tease you for this," he laughed. 

"Embry," Sam warned, his voice calm and collected. 

Jake reached out and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face into his chest and for a reason unknown to me, started to cry. Maybe it was the stress of everything that had happened, the pain of missing him, I wasn't sure. 

"Shhh, Bells. Everything is going to be okay now." 

I pulled back and glared at him, suddenly very angry. "Why haven't you returned my phone calls? I've been worried sick! First your dad says you've got mono and then your phone mysteriously stops working… and now I see you looking healthy and perfectly able to dial a phone! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't smack you right now, Jacob Black." 

"You'd probably break your hand if you did," Embry laughed.

A goofy grin spread across his face. "Aw, come on, Bells. Don't be mad. I promise to explain it to you. Right, Sam? I really do feel bad!" 

I saw Sam nod slowly. 

I put as much anger behind my glare as I could, but it was quickly dissolving. "This had better be good." 

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the house, the others following behind us. 

"He's going to make a fool out of himself," I heard Embry tell one of the others. 

"Yeah, too bad we don't have a camera," the other boy laughed.

"Dad's going to be so glad to see you!" Jacob said continuing to pull me to the house.

We stopped at the door, and I turned to look at the boys – more like giants – who were about to follow us into the house. Holy Crow, how did these Quileute boys get so big! How were all of them going to fit in that house? 

"Hey Dad! Look who's here!" Jacob called, beaming from ear to ear. Billy rolled into the dining room where the five large "boys" and I stood. He looked from Sam to Jacob and back again before finally settling his dark eyes on me with a strange look of recognition on his face. Did I grow two heads while I waited outside or something? 

"Hello again, Bella," he said, his voice much more pleasant now than it had been earlier. 

"So, you thirsty Bells? I got some soda if you want one." Jacob asked. 

"Sure. I can get it, though. I think I remember where you keep them."

"No," he cried. "I'll get it for you. You just stay there and don't move," he tousled my hair before taking the two steps it took him to reach the fridge.

"Man, Emily is going to be so mad she missed this," Embry muttered. 

"Do you want some ice? Are you hungry? I could fix you something to eat if you are. Well, the only thing I can cook without burning down the house is cereal, but I could get you a bowl of that, or maybe…" Jacob was babbling nervously. I stared wide-eyed at him, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. 

Sam stepped forward and put one hand on his shoulder. 

"Calm down, Jacob." 

Jacob took a deep breath and walked back over handing me the can of Coke. 

"Have a seat," Sam said, pointing at the chair in front of him. Jacob nearly fell over himself to pull it out for me. 

I laughed nervously and opened the Coke as I sat in the chair. I took a drink and tried not to think about the fact there were six men staring at me. 

"Bella, the reason I haven't been able to be around you for the last few weeks is because I'm a werewolf. Remember those stories I told you back at the beach? They're true. Well, you already knew the one about the Cold Ones was, but the rest of them are true, too. I'm a werewolf." 

I spit out the coke I had been drinking and started choking on it. After I'd managed not to choke to death, I looked back at Jacob who was staring at me expectantly with that same goofy grin on his face. "What's the punch-line, Jake?" 

No one said anything for several minutes. Jacob just stared at me and the others looked at one another. Embry rolled his eyes and Billy was just shaking his head and laughing. 

"You're not serious, are you?" I asked incredulously. Then, I stopped. Everything became crystal clear, like all the puzzle pieces finally came together. The two huge wolves that scared Laurent off. Werewolves. Werewolves were real. And Jacob was one of them. My breaths were coming in short spurts, my entire body felt hot all over. I just sat there and let the news sink in.

"Man, she's going to freak out," the boy next to Embry said.

"Shut up, Jared," Embry said and hit him.

"The girl runs with leeches, but nearly faints when you tell her you're a werewolf," one of the boys laughed. "You sure picked a great person to…"

"Be quiet, Paul." Sam instructed and the boy was quiet at once. 

"I thought you were in a gang… or a cult or something, but you're just a werewolf? Is that all?" I said finally. "No cult or anything? Sam isn't brainwashing you?" 

The room practically shook with their laughter. 

"No cult," Sam verified. "Although, I'm touched you think I have that sort of control over the boys." 

"Yeah, you're touched alright," Jared quipped. 

"Okay; let's give Jacob and Bella some privacy. Emily said she would make those fudge cookies tonight."

"Yes!" They said in unison and walked out the door. 

"Jacob," Sam said with an air of finality. 

Jacob closed his eyes and looked incredibly serious for a second. "I can handle it," he told him. 

"So, you're a werewolf," I said when we were alone. 

"Yeah. Hey, can you hang out for a while, or do you have to leave? I've really missed you."

"I can stay for a while. As long as I am home in time to cook dinner for Charlie." I said, my lips curling into a smile with no provocation. A real smile. 

"Cool, let's go to the beach," he said. My heart beat frantically when Jacob's warm hand grabbed mine and led me outside.

"You turn into an actual wolf?" I asked again, just to make sure I understood.

"Freaky, huh?" 

"Sort of," I admitted. "Can I see?"

He seemed excited by the question. "Serious? You want to see? You aren't scared?" 

I laughed. "Terrified, but I still want to see." 

"Cool," he grinned and half-walked, half-dragged me to the edge of the woods. 

"Now?" I squeaked. "I thought you needed a full moon!" 

"Ha! I wish. No full moon or silver for that matter. Hollywood really screwed that up. Are you sure you want to see this?" he asked again.

I nodded. "Yes."

He turned to me, his face suddenly serious. 

"Before I show you this, Bella, I want you to know I would never do anything to hurt you. I don't want you to be afraid," he was staring at me with that same intensity from before. It made my knees shaky and my stomach quiver. 

"I'm not afraid of you," I said and it was true. I wasn't. 

"Stay here, and don't move," he said before disappearing into the trees in front of them. 

A minute later, a reddish-brown wolf appeared. Jacob. I looked at him wide-eyed and I remembered that I'd seen him before; it was the same wolf from the meadow, but surely Laurent had killed them. Right? I realized I was moving towards him unconsciously – drawn to him like the planets are drawn to the sun, but hadn't I always called him my personal sun? He was huge – certainly bigger than I remembered, but I wasn't afraid of him at all. 

"Jake?" I asked, but I knew it was him. If I was being honest with myself, I'd known in the meadow. It was his eyes, his beautiful eyes. They were the same. I reached my hand out to touch him. He seemed to know exactly what I wanted and brought his head down to meet my hand. I ran my fingers through his fur; it was so soft. The noise he made when I touched him caused my entire body to shiver. He went into the woods and a minute later, he came back out, pulling his t-shirt over his muscled chest. 

"You're not afraid?" he asked.

"Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?" I whispered. 

He grinned. "Let's go to the beach now." He grabbed my hand. His skin burned against my too-cold hand. 

"Man, Jake, you're hot!" 

"Hot, huh? Thought you said before I was just sort of beautiful. Guess I _was_ due for an upgrade."

I groaned and swatted at him with my free hand. "That's not what I meant. I mean, you're burning up."

He shrugged, pulling me to the beach. "It's a wolf thing."

We sat on the log under our tree – the same log we sat on during our trip to First Beach, the log where Jake told me the legends that made me realize what Edward really was. 

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked him suddenly. 

"Well, two reasons, really. For one, no one who doesn't have to know is supposed to know. I wanted to tell you, Bella, I really did. Keeping it from you has been the hardest part, but I just couldn't tell you. As much as I wanted to, it wasn't just my secret to tell. I'm sure you understand all about _secrets_," he said with a sneer.

"Yeah, I do," I said in a small voice. 

His face softened, and he held my small hand between his two large ones. "Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that." 

I just nodded and changed the subject. "That doesn't explain why you didn't call or come by. I understand you had to keep your secret, really, I do, but I thought you were tired of me… that you didn't want to be my friend anymore… that you'd…" I trailed off; the unspoken words "left like he did" were caught in my throat. 

He crushed me to his chest, his warm arms engulfing me. We sat there like that for a few minutes. It was different from previous hugs, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Maybe it was just that I'd missed him so much, or maybe I was just beginning to notice how right it felt to be in his arms. The boundaries tended to get blurred with Jake, but this felt so right. With his hands pressed against the small of my back, his head resting on my shoulder, it felt right, and that scared me – more than the fact that he was a werewolf. 

"What's the second reason?" I asked when I pulled away.

"It could be dangerous for you to be near me. I told you we don't need a full moon to change, and that's true, but we don't always change because we want to. If I ever lost my temper when you were near me…" he stopped, a pained expression settling on his face. 

"What would happen?" 

He sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "If I lost my temper, I could transform, and if you were near me, I could hurt you." 

I scoffed. "You wouldn't hurt me," I said, but I was trying to convince myself more than him.

"I wouldn't _want_ to, but it could happen," he frowned. 

It made no sense that I should feel relieved after hearing Jacob's secret, but I did. We sat there without speaking, my mind wandering over everything he'd told me. He was right, I did understand about having to keep someone's secrets. What had changed though? He said he couldn't tell me before, so why could he tell me now? 

"What changed?"

"Huh?" he asked, obviously confused.

"You said only those who needed to know were allowed to know. That's why you couldn't tell me. So, what changed? How come you were able to tell me now? What's different?" I asked, looking at our entwined hands. 

He took a deep breath and started to speak. "There's another legend…"


	2. Chapter 2

I watched Jacob closely as he fiddled with the edge of his too-tight t-shirt. My eyes lingered longer than necessary on his torso before traveling up to his face. I flushed crimson after seeing that he'd noticed my scrutiny. I averted my eyes, gazing intently at the stone-covered earth beneath my feet.

"Have you ever heard of imprinting?" he asked.

"Um," my brain searched through the legends he'd told me the night on the beach – careful not think of _that _one. "No. What is it?"

A sigh escaped his lips. "We thought it was just another legend. One day I guess we'll realize that all of the legends are true…" he laughed bitterly. "It's supposed to be rare, but we're three for five, so maybe it isn't as rare as we thought. It's how we find our mates… soul mates, I mean. When we find that person – our soul mate – we can tell them anything – everything. There are no secrets between you."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, eyeing him warily.

Another deep breath. "I'm saying that I've imprinted on you, Bella."

A stunned silence settled between us. I laughed nervously after a few minutes. "So, what does that mean exactly?"

"It means that we were made for each other, Bells – that we're supposed to be together."

My breath began to quicken, verging on hyperventilation. Jacob couldn't be my soul-mate. I _already_ had a soul-mate. _But he doesn't want you_, my thoughts were kind enough to remind me. _He left you. _I winced and pulled my hand from his grasp, the hole in my chest aching unbearably. "Can't you just … unimprint?" I asked, staring as the waves crashed on the shore behind us.

"No, Bella, imprinting is permanent, but even if I could, I wouldn't want to. I love you, Bella, and I did before any of this werewolf crap happened. That hasn't changed – it won't ever change. This only means that now we _can_ be together."

I jumped up. "Don't I get a say in this?"

His face dropped. The hole in my chest throbbed as his frown became more pronounced. "Of course you get a say, but why wouldn't you want to be with me, Bells? Didn't you feel that connection between us earlier? You said before that you liked me better than anyone else. I'm not asking you to get married or anything. I just want you to give me a chance."

"I'm just not ready for that – for this – right now, Jake. Maybe I should go." I said.

"You're still in love with him – with that _bloodsucker_ – aren't you?" he spat the words out, a sneer forming on his beautiful face.

I sat back down on the log next to him and allowed his arm to fall on my shoulder. "No… well, yeah, I am, but not that way," I took a deep breath. "I know he – _Edward_ -" I choked the word out, "isn't coming back. I'm just not sure I'm ready to move on, not sure that I _can,_" I stared into his eyes, begging him to understand.

His face softened. "Bella," he murmured. "Bella," he repeated my name, desperation leaking into his voice. He sighed and took both of my hands in his. "I'm sorry – I broke my promise again. I know it's..." he trailed off, his unspoken words hanging in the air. "I _will_ wait for you – for as long as it takes for you to be ready."

I nodded numbly, the pain receding for the moment. Beside me, Jacob stiffened, his eyes darting across the tree line. He stood, pulling me up with him.

"We should get back," he said, his eyes still concentrating on something in the forest. My weak eyes searched the tree line for whatever had Jacob so enraptured, but I could see nothing.

We walked back to his house in a comfortable silence. Once we reached the truck, I hesitated for a moment before throwing my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. A bad feeling clawed at my insides – it was as ominous as the dark clouds gathered overhead. Jacob pulled away and I was hit with the irrational notion that Jacob was in danger, that I had hurt him, that I had _lost_ him – my entire being rejected that concept. Even if it wasn't like _that_ for me now, I still needed him – desperately needed him. Sobs began wrecking my body, the weight of our recent separation still heavy on my shoulders.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," he said in a soothing tone as his hands softly touched my hair, my back, my face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. What's wrong? Please don't cry."

"I don't want to lose you," I cried into his chest. "You're my best friend."

"You're not going to lose me, Bella. If anything, you're gaining a new accessory," I could hear the smile in his voice. "I won't leave," he promised, my chest tightened as he said those words. "I've never been able to stay away from you, and now I don't even have a reason to try. Face it, you're stuck with me," he teased.

My eyes met his for a moment, and I could see the truth in his words. I stepped into the open cab of my truck, inhaling deeply, noticing for the first time it was _his_ – Jacob's – scent that perforated the inside of the truck.

"See ya, Bells," he called as I pulled out of the driveway and headed back to my house.

* * *

My mind was racing as I went through the motions of preparing dinner. I took two pieces of fish out of the freezer and left them on the counter to thaw. Then I threw a salad together before heading upstairs to check my e-mail. I still had a while to go before Charlie would be home from work, so if I sent Renee an e-mail now, it would be out of the way. My fingers tapped impatiently against the desk as I waited for the ancient computer to boot and get connected to the internet.

Jacob was a werewolf – a _werewolf_. I still couldn't wrap my mind around it. With _him_ I had known almost from the first moment I saw _him_ that there was something different about them… something more… something _better_ then the other people at school. But Jacob – _Jake_? No, he was just normal Jake. The person who'd helped me through the darkest time of my life, who'd resurrected me just as he'd resurrected the pair of motorcycles I brought to him. My best friend. The one who understood me better than I understood myself. Jake. My Jake, but he wasn't mine, was he? No, he wasn't. _But he could be, _the voice reminded me. He'd imprinted on me – _I _was _his_ soul-mate. But what about _my_ soul-mate? He was gone, never to return. How much longer could I delude myself about a return that was never going to happen?

I turned the computer off in frustration when I heard Charlie's cruiser turn into the driveway. I practically flew downstairs and was just starting to fry the fish when Charlie walked into the door. I didn't turn towards him, but I heard the familiar noises of his holster being unfastened and flung onto the rack along with his jacket.

"Mmm. Smells good, Bells," he commented. He opened the fridge and pulled out a soda before heading towards the living room. The TV flicked on and the sounds of a ball game drifted into the kitchen. I pushed all thoughts of Jacob, werewolves, and _soul mates_ out of my head as I finished making dinner.

I quickly made Charlie a plate and set on the table before making my own. '

"It's ready," I called into the kitchen. The TV switched off, and Charlie shuffled into the kitchen.

We ate in silence for several minutes before I noticed Charlie watching me.

"Something's different," he accused.

I sighed. Might as well get this over with. "I went to La Push today and saw Jake."

"Hmm." He didn't say anything further, only continued eating.

"We made up – I guess you were right. It was all just a misunderstanding." I stifled a laugh… misunderstanding… I suppose you could call it that.

Charlie's face lit up. "Good. That's good. Jake's a good kid." He stretched and put his hand over his belly. "So, any big plans for spring break?"

I grimaced. I'd almost forgotten spring break completely. Last spring break, I had been running from a duo of psychotic vampires. I recovered quickly. "I don't know, Dad. Work mostly. Probably go down to La Push and spend some time with Jacob," I said with a shrug.

Apparently I'd said the magic words because Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "You do that. I'm glad you two patched things up." He pushed himself away from the table. He put one of his rough hands on my shoulder. "I love you, Bells," he said in an uncharacteristic show of emotion.

"I, um, love you, too," I muttered as he walked back into the living room. I cleaned up the kitchen as fast as possible so I could retreat to my bedroom. I was resigned to the pain that I knew would come tonight.

* * *

The pain didn't come though, and I woke up for the first time in months feeling refreshed. No nightmares had caused me to scream myself awake, no haunting nothingness. Instead, I was plagued all night by black-haired children and a russet-colored wolf. It was still early when I headed down the stairs, but Charlie was already pulling on his work gear.

"Work already?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, pouring his coffee into a thermos. "You goin' to La Push today?"

I shrugged. "Probably. Why?"

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me. "Whatever you do, stay out of those woods. I know you two spend a decent amount of time there, but it isn't safe. There's been another sighting of the wolves, and this time two hikers have been killed – well, we assume they've been killed. There was a lot of blood, but no bodies."

"Killed?" I repeated the words. I knew now that the large wolves people were seeing were actually werewolves – specifically Jake and his pack – but they were protectors, so who had killed the hikers? I finally found my voice again. "We'll stay out of the woods, promise. Maybe we'll go to the beach."

He grunted a goodbye and left me alone in the house to fall apart. My brain was reeling. Missing hikers. Large wolves. Werewolves. Protectors. _Vampires. _I gripped the counter tightly as it all fell into place. Laurent's words echoed in my head – _But if you only knew what she had planned for you, Bella… _Victoria was back. _His_ voice roared in my head – fierce and furious.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder and darted upstairs, stumbling several times in my haste. I showered and dressed in a hurried daze. It was still too early – not even seven o'clock yet, so I dragged my backpack downstairs to the kitchen table and attempted to get some homework done before heading out to La Push. I was in the middle of my calculus homework when the phone rang. I glanced at the clock; nine a.m. was still too early for Jacob to be awake. I sighed and reached over to answer the phone. When I heard Mrs. Newton's voice, I realized how much I'd hoped that it had been Jacob.

"Do you think you could come in for a few hours? I'm sorry it's such short notice, but I completely forgot that we would be leaving for vacation today!"

I groaned inwardly. "Sure," I told her. "What time?"

Five minutes later, I hung up the phone with a new plan for the day. Work. With Mike. What a lovely way to start out spring break. I sank back down and finished working on my calculus homework before grabbing a granola bar and rushing off to work. I flung the door open and stumbled back – startled at who was waiting for me on the porch.


End file.
